Shaking After Drinking Alcohol

[Narthil]

I am 18 years old and about one year ago I started experiencing some shaking after drinking alcoholic bevarages, I drink only fridays and saturdays (In my country it is legal at this age) and I don't consume any other day of the week. Anyway the shaking happens only when I don't drink (As when I do it goes away)and it is starting to worry me, but I know I am not an alcoholic becauase I don't feel the urge of drinking ever and I can control my drinks when I do.

The point is, does anybody know what this shaking is about? How does it occur and why? I was thinking it is due to some chemical imbalance, like a vitaminical disorder or something. So I was thinking it could be lowered, minimized or stopped completely by consuming some sort of vitamin constantly or eating something to prevent it without having to stop drinking for a pronloged period of time (As I am in my college years and it is fun to drink every once in a while). Any help is appreciated.

P.S: I also smoke about 5 cigarretes a day and drink one cup of coffee daily, that might influence as well, but it is the alcohol that severes it.

I just want it to stop, even if it is only light shaking I get I want it gone (after heavy drinking it becomes heavy).

Thanks in advance.

[Claire_MHModerator]

This thread is pretty old at this point, and with so many posts, it's getting difficult to follow, so we'll close it now.  

To increase the likelihood of getting your post seen (and getting help), please start a new thread in one of the following forums:

Alcoholism: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Alcoholism/show/158

Living With An Alcoholic: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Alcoholic--Living-with-an-/show/217

Hope this helps!

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                ** CLOSED DISCUSSION**
            NO MORE COMMENTS PLEASE
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[resn8r]

I'm not a medical expert, but have been through enough medical detoxes that I've done my share of reading.  Alcohol is a central nervous depressant, mainly affecting GABA (inhibitory neurotransmitter) receptors, so that the brain gets flooded with GABA, and responds by deciding that it has plenty of GABA floating around, and deregulates the amount that it would normally make.  If you have bee drinking for a prolonged period of time, and then abruptly stop, the brain goes into a state of "shock," as everything starts to repair itself, basically driving your senses into overdrive.  The results can be sweats, rapid heartbeat, tremors, or worse, seizures.  Depending on the amount you have been drinking, it's best to seek a doctor or outpatient detox facility to talk with, or if the shaking becomes too strong depending on how long you've been drinking - seek out the ER and let them know you are at risk of alcohol seizures.  If it goes beyond the shakes, it can go into DT's, which again, based on history, can be life-threatening and require medication.  Search for rapid alcohol detox centers in the area, or find a doctor that can work with you on a taper program.

On those not wanting to seek medical help, again, I'm not licensed to give a protocol, but magnesium, B-50 supplement as needed (no more than 6x/day), a little extra thiamine, and magnesium should ease symptoms - as well as eliminating processed / fried/fatty foods.  Passionflower and Valerian are relaxing herbs, but I advise to consult with a nutritionist or homeopathic doctor before beginning these as all of these can interfere with one another and other medications.  drugs.com has a free signup where you can enter all medications you are taking (not sure if it has a  full list of herbs, etc.) that you can fill out and take to a doctor..

My $0.02, and I really hope it helps.  I struggle with "alcoholism" myself, and have become a firm believer that it is not a moral or spiritual disease, but has a physical root that may be different for each person.

Best,

Milo

[Haba29]

Is there a healthcare professional that can weigh in on this topic?   I'm trying to help someone struggling with the shaking who will not seek medical help.  

[AlanXyO]

Hello i am a 23 years old and i got out clubbing and to parties almost every weekend. I'm also a heavy drinker and the next morning i too experience the shakes and it usually last a few hours before finally going away but has just started recently so that is what worries me.

[tyx]

I'm 15 and I drink every friday night, I drink vodka, and normally drink a lot, a few hours after I stop drinking, when I'm home lying in bed, I start shaking really bad, and go freezing cold, no matter how warm the house is, I'm stone cold, and shake really bad, sometimes even be sick, but its started to scare me lately, because I'm only young, and the shaking is really bad at some occasions, I know I shouldn't be drinking at 15 but its my personal choice, just abit scared?

[SulferX]

I work a lot, but Fridays and Saturdays. Therefore I usually drink Thursday night, Friday and stop Saturday at some point during the day. When I drink, I binge basically. Thought, since I have gotten older I noticed that after even a short binge I shake bad the next day, and depending on how much I've drank can last two to three days. I have tried everything. Eating. Resting. Not resting and forcing myself to use my tedmill (or walk somewhere like park or cemetery) , and none of it works.
I don't know exactly what causes the shakes other than speculation. Alcohol withdrawal. Tho I never experienced this before the age of 29. I drank heavily during my early 20s, and stopped completely when I got married around age oof 26. When I turned 29 I started to drink wine, noticed after drinking for two days and stopped I had shakes. If I drink a little one night it only makes me feel a little unmotivated, but more than that, I shake after I stop.
This is only from my experience, but if you are dealing with this to I found out the best way to deal with it is to take the following day (the day you haven't had a drink) , eat, drink water (or Gatorade, and rest. Relax and except. The second day, as in my case I usually have to work, get off your @$$ and get a little exercise. Usually you may still wake up with the shakes, but after moving around it goes away. The third day for sure you may wake up shaky but moving around will stop that. If you are not okay after a complete 3 days, 72 hours, then I suggest seeking advice from your doctor. If so, most likely u will b tested for various things. Usually asked to take blood tests. I have only went so far as to tell my.doctor about what I go thru after drinking,never took the.tests he asked me to. Mainly cause I know two to three days later I'm okay.
Simply, if your like me and enjoy a buzz after a long week of work (or whatever) , just dedicate two days of not drinking to get yourself right. And as I know that's not possible in most cases, so either drink less for one night. Make sure you stop hours before you go to sleep and eat. And most important is to keep hydrated. I drink peach ice tea. Very cold temperature and non sugur. OR don't drink at all!
Every action is up to you.
I'll leave you with final advice. If you, as I do, choose to drink on occasion, just know you have to deal with the after effects. If after three days you don't stop shaking, seek medical help. If u drink and are on klonopin or something like it upping your dose can help, tho I know this but I am NOT a doctor. Best wishes friends,
Phil.

[SulferX]

I work a lot, but Fridays and Saturdays. Therefore I usually drink Thursday night, Friday and stop Saturday at some point during the day. When I drink, I binge basically. Thought, since I have gotten older I noticed that after even a short binge I shake bad the next day, and depending on how much I've drank can last two to three days. I have tried everything. Eating. Resting. Not resting and forcing myself to use my tedmill (or walk somewhere like park or cemetery) , and none of it works.
I don't know exactly what causes the shakes other than speculation. Alcohol withdrawal. Tho I never experienced this before the age of 29. I drank heavily during my early 20s, and stopped completely when I got married around age oof 26. When I turned 29 I started to drink wine, noticed after drinking for two days and stopped I had shakes. If I drink a little one night it only makes me feel a little unmotivated, but more than that, I shake after I stop.
This is only from my experience, but if you are dealing with this to I found out the best way to deal with it is to take the following day (the day you haven't had a drink) , eat, drink water (or Gatorade, and rest. Relax and except. The second day, as in my case I usually have to work, get off your @$$ and get a little exercise. Usually you may still wake up with the shakes, but after moving around it goes away. The third day for sure you may wake up shaky but moving around will stop that. If you are not okay after a complete 3 days, 72 hours, then I suggest seeking advice from your doctor. If so, most likely u will b tested for various things. Usually asked to take blood tests. I have only went so far as to tell my.doctor about what I go thru after drinking,never took the.tests he asked me to. Mainly cause I know two to three days later I'm okay.
Simply, if your like me and enjoy a buzz after a long week of work (or whatever) , just dedicate two days of not drinking to get yourself right. And as I know that's not possible in most cases, so either drink less for one night. Make sure you stop hours before you go to sleep and eat. And most important is to keep hydrated. I drink peach ice tea. Very cold temperature and non sugur. OR don't drink at all!
Every action is up to you.
I'll leave you with final advice. If you, as I do, choose to drink on occasion, just know you have to deal with the after effects. If after three days you don't stop shaking, seek medical help. If u drink and are on klonopin or something like it upping your dose can help, tho I know this but I am NOT a doctor. Best wishes friends,
Phil.

[SulferX]

I work a lot, but Fridays and Saturdays. Therefore I usually drink Thursday night, Friday and stop Saturday at some point during the day. When I drink, I binge basically. Thought, since I have gotten older I noticed that after even a short binge I shake bad the next day, and depending on how much I've drank can last two to three days. I have tried everything. Eating. Resting. Not resting and forcing myself to use my tedmill (or walk somewhere like park or cemetery) , and none of it works.
I don't know exactly what causes the shakes other than speculation. Alcohol withdrawal. Tho I never experienced this before the age of 29. I drank heavily during my early 20s, and stopped completely when I got married around age oof 26. When I turned 29 I started to drink wine, noticed after drinking for two days and stopped I had shakes. If I drink a little one night it only makes me feel a little unmotivated, but more than that, I shake after I stop.
This is only from my experience, but if you are dealing with this to I found out the best way to deal with it is to take the following day (the day you haven't had a drink) , eat, drink water (or Gatorade, and rest. Relax and except. The second day, as in my case I usually have to work, get off your @$$ and get a little exercise. Usually you may still wake up with the shakes, but after moving around it goes away. The third day for sure you may wake up shaky but moving around will stop that. If you are not okay after a complete 3 days, 72 hours, then I suggest seeking advice from your doctor. If so, most likely u will b tested for various things. Usually asked to take blood tests. I have only went so far as to tell my.doctor about what I go thru after drinking,never took the.tests he asked me to. Mainly cause I know two to three days later I'm okay.
Simply, if your like me and enjoy a buzz after a long week of work (or whatever) , just dedicate two days of not drinking to get yourself right. And as I know that's not possible in most cases, so either drink less for one night. Make sure you stop hours before you go to sleep and eat. And most important is to keep hydrated. I drink peach ice tea. Very cold temperature and non sugur. OR don't drink at all!
Every action is up to you.
I'll leave you with final advice. If you, as I do, choose to drink on occasion, just know you have to deal with the after effects. If after three days you don't stop shaking, seek medical help. If u drink and are on klonopin or something like it upping your dose can help, tho I know this but I am NOT a doctor. Best wishes friends,
Phil.

[Dr411]

U have no idea what your talking about ...but you have the nerve to post an answer like the one  you posted online.????  Are u serious with the Parkinson's??  Everyone knows that parkinson is result of too little dopamine in the central nervous system... The  shaking that u get .after a night of drinking is NOTHING like a Parkinsonism tremor..y would u post an answer to a question that you clearly have no knowledge on???  And telling the poor kid to stay away from alcohol when it obvious that he doesnt have a problem with alcohol,  is out right malicious...were you ever young ? Did u ever actually have fun when you were in college?

[niecespieces]

If you say you drink too much then most likely you are an alcoholic, look up what an alcoholic is. I just got a DUI so now I'm walking to the nearest bars, I got the shakes today and a major headache, I drank vodka, I just started getting shakes lately, id be afraid to look at my liver. I am worried about my life style now its becoming all too much to tolerate anymore, so I'm glad I got this DUI because next week is my first class, I hope to get this help so I can live a normal life again. And I drink about 3 times a week, I consider myself an alcoholic. I should be able to hang with friends have a good time with out the alcohol, if you try it a month to go out n not drink see if you have urges to drink like you need it to interact, then there is an even bigger problem.

[adamj4370]

i drink too much and now ive also gt this shaking its really horrible im not an alcoholic but i do binge drink often. i am also 18 and ive started drinking too much since i was able to buy it

[Spfychik84]

More than likely, this has something to do with your blood sugar level.  Alcohol lowers your blood sugar level, especially if you drink quite a bit.  Just make sure you eat something- fruit is probably a good idea- and see if it helps. :-)

[nachorooni]

YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU THAT YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM ALCOHOLISM.  YOUR MIND AND HEART HAVE NOT ACCEPTED IT. GET HELP TO STOP DRINKING NOW. IT DOESN'T GET BETTER IT ONLY GETS WORSE.

[brokentalas]

have you found out how to stop and still drink or dose stop drinking end the shaking. If so how long after i stop drinking will the shaking stop?????????????????????????????????????????

[Mother Margaret]

PS

OR maybe your body is just 'complaining' about too much of some kind of chemical ... in this case alcohol

http://www.valdezlink.com/pages/howcomplain.htm

I've noticed this when people take chemo or are on a lot of medications ... they can start shaking uncontrollably, and then they take medications to stop the shaking; sad story.

[Mother Margaret]

"after heavy drinking it becomes heavy"

This is interesting.  No shaking at all at the time, except the next morning ... or after the fact.

But then if you drink heavily, you get a lot of shaking?

This could be something to do with OH- ethanol in alcohol affecting the Central Nervous System ... Parkinson's is a permanent shaking which I suspect can be caused by just the right amount of exposure to 2-butoxyethanol ... a much more complex chemical made up of many ethanol components.

Now, you could very likely have a parent or grandparent harmed by this chemical (very prevalent exposure in WWII ... and I suspect such for me & my dad who was on a Navy ship in WWII.)  

This is nothing to play around with.

Avoid all alcohol and study up on this chemical & avoid it all of your life.  Do not get the fumes in your eyes.  Be careful around cleaning products and paint.

[watsername]

I am also 18 and experience the exact same thing. However, I dont drink very often, but when I do I expereince shaking the next morning. I dont smoke either.

[willtme]

Alcoholism can be physiological in nature.  That is, addiction to alcohol can manifest itself in your body--and there doesn't have to be a mental or "out-of-control" component.  Your shaking could likely be attributed to alcohol withdraw--especially since it is more severe after heavy drinking.  

You should visit your physician and describe your symptoms.  They will be able to accurately diagnose your problem and recommend the right treatment.